Turf-anchoring spike for lawn sprinklers



Oct. 11, 1949. R. L -E. REUTER 2,484,794

TURF-ANCHORING SPIKE FOR LAWN SRRINKLERS Filed Nov. 9, 1946 I INVENTOR.Rene L.E.Reutev Patented Oct. 11, 1949 TURF-ANCHORING SPIKE FOR LAWNSPRINKLERS Ren L. E. Reuter, Waterbury, Conn., assignor to ScovillManufacturing Company, Waterbury, Conn., a corporation of ConnecticutApplication November 9, 1946, Serial No. 708,995 4 Claims. (01. 299-45)This invention relates to lawn sprinklers and particularly to a turfengaging spike attached as a part of a lawn sprinkler unit.

An object of this invention is to provide a spike member that can beformed out of a sheet metal disc, and the disc conveniently secured tothe base of a sprinkler unit.

A still further object is to design the spike disc of the abovecharacter and have the spike properly positioned in a biased mannerrelative to the base and in a plane common with the axis of the hoseconnection, which construction permits the spike to be forced into theturf in a biased manner and it can then be axially pulled out of theturf by merely pulling on the connecting hose without danger of tearingup the lawn.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists ofcertain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts thatwill hereinafter be more fully described and claimed, and illustrated inthe accompanying drawing in which- Fig. 1 is a side elevational view ofa sprinkler unit as attached to the end of a hose and showing the lowerpart of the sprinkler in section to better show up the disc plate out ofwhich the spike is formed.

Fig. 2 is a top plane view of the disc plate, per se.

Fig. 3 is an end view of the same, and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional View of the disc plate taken along theline 4-4 of Fig. 2, primarily to show up the cross sectional shape ofthe spike member.

It has been found from practice that when relatively light lawnsprinklers are placed upon the end of garden hose for the purpose ofsprinkling lawns and the water pressure is turned on, there is alwaysmore or less of a torsional force set up in the hose that has a tendencyto turn and upset the sprinkler on the end of the hose so that it willnot lie flat upon the ground. The purpose of this invention is too applya spike element to such relatively light sprinklers that will eliminatethe above difiiculties and assure that the sprinkler will maintain itsproper position for sprinkling once the spike is properly biased intothe lawn turf.

Referring now to the drawing in which like reference numerals designatelike parts throughout the several views, the numeral I indicates a domeshaped housing shell made of relatively thin metal, and in thisparticular case shown as being substantially semi-spherical in shapethough necessarily it need not be of such shape. Extendin from the sidewall of the housing Shell I0 is a neck member II to which is swivellyconnected a union nut l2 such as generally used in connecting thesprinkler to the male nipple l3 of a garden hose l4.

Referring to Fig. 1, and particularly to the sectionalized portionadjacent its base, it is to be noted that the housing Ill has its openend closed oil by a closing base l5 that is provided with acircumferential downward offset flange l6 for the purpose of holding thedisc in an assembled position. The lower and open end of the housingshell is formed with an enlarged terminal section l1 providing for aconnecting shoulder l8 there between.

In accordance with the concept of this invention it is my purpose toprovide a spike member that may be attached to lawn sprinklers in arelatively simple manner and to make the spike as cheaply as possibleout of sheet material, preferably metal. With this in view there isemployed a circular disc plate or member l9 stamped out of relativelyheavy sheet metal and of a diametrical size to fit within the innerdiameter of the enlarged section IT. The disc plate I9 is designed to beassembled as an integral part of the sprinkler unit. To this end theclosing base I5 is first assembled into the open end of the housingshell II] with the offset flange l6 resting up against the connectingshoulder IS. The disc plate I9 is next fitted into the enlarged sectionI! resting against the flange l 6, and the two parts l5 and H! arepermanently secured in place by spinning over or forming inwardly thelower end of the enlarged section [1 as at 20, all as clearly shown inFig. 1.

' In forming a spike out of and as an integral part of said disc platel9, at the center portion of said disc plate there is provided ashearing of two converging line cuts 2| and 2la joined together by anarcuate cut 2 lb, such as seen in Fig. 2, and the stock material betweenthe shearing cuts 2 I, 2 la and 2 lb is formed downwardly to provide aspike member 22. As best shown in Figs. 1 and 3 the axis of the spikemember 22 is disposed at an acute angle relative to the adjacent face ofthe disc plate I9, and I have found that by having the spike memberdisposed about 15 to the face of the plate I9 is the most desirableangle for attaining the results desired. Furthermore, to give this spikemember 22 additional strength it is made somewhat U-shaped or of arcuateform in transverse cross-section, the radius of curvature beingrelatively small at its leading end 22 and progressively increasing insize to its point 9.1 attachment where the spike member is integrallyjoined into this member by a relatively abrupt reversely bent portion asat In making the spike member 22 of arcuate shape in cross-section forthe purpose of giving it added strength, it is to be noted from thedrawings that 5 the arcuate shap carries substantially into the disc 89proper through the reversely bent portion- 23 to give it as muchstrength as possible at its point of attachment where the severeststrains will result.

The positioning of the disc platev'l9 relative to; the housing M! issuch that the axis of the spike member 22 will lie substantiallyjn a13181116 60111? mon with the axis of the ne'ckmember l.l...where. thesprinkler unit is joined on to the hose. assure such positivepositioning of the spike member 22 the disc plate I9 is provided withanotch 24 in the periphery thereof in alignment with the spike axis.Also there is provided in the enlarged section 11, in alignment with.the neck member II, an inwardly formedrib 25. In assembling the discplate is in place, the'notch 24 will be aligned and slipped over the rib25 for the proper positioning of the disc plate I9 carrying the spikemember relative to the sprinkler, 5 unit.

' In the use of this particular spike member with the sprinkler unit,after the sprinkler has been attached to a garden hose and the sprinkleris placed upon the lawn, it will only be necessary to move the sprinklerunit across-the surface of a lawn in alignment with and outwardlyrelative to the hose connection with enough pressure on the top of thesprinkler unit to force the spike member zz-in aninclined direction intothe turf mate- 5 rial as conventionally shown in Fig. 1 and represented.by the numeral 26. The factthat the' pointed end of the spike member isaway from the'point of attachment of the hose member assures thatanytime the hosem'e'mber is pulled 40 uponto'move the sprinkler toanother position or. for storage purposes the spike member will axiallypull out 'of the turf without tearing up the turf and in any wayinjuring the: lawn. The fact that the spike member ZZ-is formedoutof thestock of the plate I9, makes it, of -course,-'no thicker than the-platematerial, and provides for a spike'member in the formofa thin blade ofarcuate shape for strength, andone that can be forced-'into'the turf andremoved therefrom and out only a thin slit in the turf' that will notinjure or disturb the appearance of a lawn.

It is, of course, obvious that-minor changes in details of constructionand arrangement of parts may be made without departing from-the scope ofthepresent invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A sprinkler unit of relatively light construction, a connecting neckmember leading into said unit, a swivel nut carried by said neck memberfor joining said unit with a garden hose, a closure base for said unit,and a disc member of relatively thick sheet material superimposed overthe outside of said closure base, said disc member having a spikeelement sheared out of a cen- "tral portion and inclined at an acuteangle to the face of-said discsaid acute angle being no greater151511311 45 degrees or less than 15 degrees, the free l aplane'commomwit h said neck member and being directed awayxfrom thepoint of attachment of said connecting neck member.

2: :.A:sprinklerzunit;as defined in claim 1, wherein the spike elementis of arcuate shape in cross section.

3. A sprinkler unit, as defined in claim 1, wherein-the spike element isof arcuate shape in cross section and progressively tapering outwardlyfrom its leading free endtoits p'oiht'of attachment;

- 4A: sprinkler' unit having abase portion plate member, andmeanspositioning said plate memberso that the-longitudinal axis of saidspike element lies in a common plane with' the axis- 'of the hoseconnecting "element and the free" pointed end of said spike element:being disposed awayfxfrom-xthe hose connection coupling, saidacute angleof "the spike elementbeing in the order of-115.to'45 degrees-whereby thespike element .may -be :axial-ly.v withdrawn from the lawnturi by a pullupon the hose.

RENE REUTER.

REFERENCES CITED 7 The following references are 0f-record in the file ofthis patent: v a

4 UNITED-STATES PATENTS Number "Name v Date 580,151 "Barnard Apr. 6,1897 1,087,580 Hamill Feb. 1'7; 1914 1,119,556 -'Wesp Dec. 1, 19142,421;104' "Wadsworth May 27, 1947

